After the performances were mostly over, Kang Xian finally came down from the main pleasure boat and made his way back to his own vessel. He greeted some people on the first floor, then went upstairs to exchange pleasantries with the youngsters he encountered. When he looked to one side of the painted boat, he discovered something rather odd.

There were actually two pairs of people watching the performances while playing chess by the windows.

"It's truly strange—why is it that every time I see you, you young fellow are always the most leisurely one? It really makes one angry. The ladies below are performing with all their heart, yet here you are dividing your attention between two things. Aren't you afraid someone will see and scold you for wasting such a good seat?" Every time he met Ning Yi, Kang Xian couldn't help but needle him a bit. When he saw the chessboard, he finally said with puzzlement, "Hm, this game looks odd..."

He tilted his head to look at the other window where the two siblings also had an equally strange chess game before them. The sister was frowning unhappily, holding a chess piece as if calculating, while the brother looked rather pleased with himself: "Sister, if you don't block here, you're going to lose."

This was Kang Xian's first time seeing such a situation. After Ning Yi explained the rules of Five-in-a-Row with a smile, he suddenly understood: "You always manage to find such things to play with." When he went over to look, the sister had already lost between the two children. Seeing Kang Xian, one called out "Granduncle" while the other addressed him as "Imperial Son-in-law Grandfather." Kang Xian then smilingly made introductions for both sides.

"It seems you've already met. This is the Ning Yi, Ning Liheng you often ask about... Liheng, these two are youngsters from my family—the sister is Xiao Pei, the brother is called Junwu, one is thirteen, the other eleven. Xiao Pei is quite the talented young lady of the family—she's long been unconvinced by you."

Kang Xian made the introductions cheerfully while the two children's faces darkened, especially the sister who turned her head away quite displeased. The brother complained: "Granduncle, he lied to me earlier saying he wasn't Ning Liheng."

Kang Xian was slightly taken aback. After they explained what had happened, he laughed: "You child, coming up and immediately wanting to test people—naturally there would be no good result. Remember this lesson for the future... Liheng too, playing the child king all day, always thinking of ways to tease children... Uh, Xiao Pei, Junwu, do you still have questions to ask now? I guarantee he'll answer you."

The sister named Xiao Pei turned her head: "Hmph, afraid of being tested—naturally he lacks real learning and feels guilty. The conclusion is already reached, no need to ask!" She went to the side to collect the chess pieces. Junwu then also smiled: "Then I won't ask either. I'll go play chess with sister." In the past when playing Go, he would always lose to his sister, but now having learned Five-in-a-Row, he'd won several games in a row and was quite happy. His resentment toward Ning Yi wasn't actually that strong. As for Xiao Pei's displeasure with Ning Yi, probably half of it came from Five-in-a-Row. However, she was stubborn and continued playing Five-in-a-Row with her brother, wanting to master it and directly turn the tables on him.

Since someone had come to chat, Xiao Chan had actually already risen from her seat. Kang Xian smiled and sat down in that chair, looking at the Five-in-a-Row endgame and casually placing a piece. He laughed: "Speaking of which, it's quite interesting—Xiao Chan calls you Young Master, they have to call me Granduncle. Before, people called me Imperial Son-in-law, now they call me Imperial Son-in-law Grandfather. Hehe, these generational matters—just adding one character and you're a generation older..."

He then remembered something and gestured toward the two children, lowering his voice: "Children of Prince Kang Zhou Yong's family. They usually praise you to the skies and have long wanted to meet you. Pei'er truly is a talented young lady of the Zhou family—skilled in poetry and literature, quick to master any art she learns. Most impressive is her arithmetic¹. Last year when the family was doing accounts, the little girl took an account book for fun and calculated all the numbers without an abacus, without a single error. The brother Junwu's aptitude is somewhat more ordinary. With such a formidable sister, he usually gets ordered around all day. Hehe, quite amusing..."

Ning Yi looked back—the girl named Zhou Pei was facing this direction, frowning tightly as she thought about her chess moves. She couldn't help but glare at Ning Yi. Ning Yi smiled: "Looks like he's found the only game where he can beat his sister."

The performances continued below. Naturally, Kang Xian couldn't stay here chatting with juniors forever. After finishing that half-game of chess and roughly understanding what Five-in-a-Row was about, he left. Afterward, Ning Yi and Xiao Chan watched the performances while the siblings next to them kept playing Five-in-a-Row. That girl named Zhou Pei was quite strange—after losing the first few games, she didn't suggest switching to Go or simply stopping. Instead, she kept playing, and by the end seemed to have slightly turned the situation around.

The evening's performances came to a satisfactory conclusion, followed by the grand announcement of the four leading courtesans. They were the previous year's top courtesan Feng Xiaojing, Qilan who had the Puyang family's support, Yuan Jin'er from Golden Wind Tower, and a newcomer named Luo Miaomiao. Lu Caicai, who had been one of the four leading courtesans last year, had fallen off the list.

Ning Yi had just come to watch the performances—these rankings and such had nothing to do with him. In any case, the show had been quite pleasant to watch, and everything tonight had gone smoothly. Then the entire venue began to clear out. Some people were still socializing and networking, while more headed toward the exits. After Ning Yi and Xiao Chan disembarked, they vaguely heard some minor chaos coming from the gate area. Listening to others talk about it, apparently a group supporting Lu Caicai was displeased and had gotten into an argument with others, resulting in a small-scale brawl.

Such incidents weren't unusual—they happened to varying degrees almost every year. It wasn't a big problem. The soldiers maintaining order had already rushed over and would surely calm things down soon. At the main pleasure boat, various high officials and nobles were exchanging pleasantries. Actually, for many people, tonight's excitement and revelry wasn't over yet—there were still banquets to attend. Kang Xian was also there saying his farewells. When Ning Yi and Xiao Chan went over, he smiled and told them not to rush off: "My boat needs to return too. We might as well go together. You two didn't bring a carriage—if you walk back, you'll probably be quite tired."

People gathered and dispersed near and far across the venue. Lights began extending from the roads toward Jiangning city. A moment later, the crowd here had thinned considerably when another incident occurred at the side of Ning Yi's vision. Perhaps because the weather was somewhat hot, someone in one of the large tents behind the stage seemed to have knocked over a candle. A fire broke out on that riverbank, igniting the tent and surrounding items in roaring flames.

People from various brothels ran out from that area. Fortunately, there weren't many people left in this section—mostly officials, nobles, and celebrities still socializing, their attendants, soldiers, and very few remaining spectators. There was no danger of a stampede. Someone gave orders: "Quickly, put out the fire..." Many people headed that way. Ning Yi thought of Nie Yunzhu and had Xiao Chan stay here for a moment while he followed. On the way, he met Nie Yunzhu coming this direction. As for Yuan Jin'er, having won a spot as one of the four leading courtesans, she still had celebrations to attend and was being surrounded by a large group of people on the other side—but she was fine.

"That's Fragrant Court's large tent. It's far from us, though hearing about a fire at first was quite frightening. But actually no one was hurt—everyone ran out. It's just that the tent is so large, putting out the fire now won't be easy..."

From a distance, the fire on the riverbank looked alarming, mainly because the tent was large and there were many items around it. But there was really no possibility of it spreading too far. At this point, it was just watching a group of people heroically fighting the fire. Ning Yi returned up the slope to find Xiao Chan and leisurely turned back to watch the show. Tonight everything was normal—this fire wouldn't cause any real impact. So they just had to wait to go home.

He stood there thinking this, almost yawning, when a cool breeze swept toward them. Some thought suddenly flashed through his mind, making him freeze for a moment.

His gaze looked toward the fire scene below, then toward the people here, searching for his target as some clues became three-dimensional in his mind. That's right... When the fire had started earlier, the Ardent Wu Army's Commander Chen Yong had called out: "You all go fight the fire..." He wasn't just calling the government soldiers maintaining order but also part of his personal guards. They were now active around that fire scene...

The reason he called them over was because the large crowd outside was leaving, plus there was that unexpected brawl. The government's arrangements couldn't keep up for the moment, so there weren't many soldiers left here...

"That's Fragrant Court's large tent..." Yunzhu had said this. Fragrant Court—this Ardent Wu Army's Chen Yong had been supporting Fragrant Court's lead courtesan. Now that lady... Ning Yi turned his head to look... Fragrant Court's lead courtesan was standing beside Chen Yong... So he had ordered his personal guards over...

He couldn't find Song Xian. Song Xian probably had business and was preparing to leave when the crowd dispersed. Then the fire started, Chen Yong ordered personal guards to fight it, Song Xian left some of his own personal guards behind but had probably already departed...

A strong wind blew over. In the distance on the riverbank, wind fanned the flames, suddenly raising the fire higher. Ning Yi's face flickered between light and dark. Last night in the crowd, he had considered various plans for how he would kill Song Xian if he were to do it. But last night's situation was different from tonight's. He hadn't thought about these things tonight, but thinking about it now, if he wanted to kill Song Xian, if these two small incidents weren't coincidences...

After a moment, he took Xiao Chan's hand and walked toward the nearby Kang Xian. Xiao Chan's face turned completely red: "Y-y-y-y-y-young M-master..."

"Master Kang, do you have a carriage prepared here?"

"Does Liheng have business?"

"I remembered an urgent matter and need to take Xiao Chan back first."

"Alright." Kang Xian didn't say much, just nodded. "I'll have Agui take you."

Not long after, the carriage marked with the Imperial Son-in-law's Estate insignia left the venue and turned onto the main road. Though there were many people returning to Jiangning on both sides of the road at this time, the center of the official road was still left clear, allowing the carriage to proceed at moderate speed. Ning Yi occasionally cracked the whip, his gaze looking toward Jiangning city at the end of the road. Among this crowd dispersing from the gathering, the front had already begun approaching the city gates...

Two carriages marked with Ardent Wu Army insignia entered Jiangning city and traveled through.

At this time, the competition at White Egret Isle had dispersed not long ago, and most people hadn't yet returned to Jiangning. The hour was also getting late—those staying in Jiangning who should sleep had mostly already done so. The two carriages passed through streets both bright and dark in the city, heading toward the city gate on the other end. The sound of wheels and hoofbeats rapidly left the alternating light and dark roads behind. About halfway through, on a relatively open but quiet stretch of road, the shops on both sides had already closed. Various frames, garbage, and signboards lined the street. Some rooms showed lamplight, and a few lanterns with dim glow hung at street corners. In the instant after the sound of a whip crack, the driver of the front carriage shouted sharply: "Who goes there!"

The answer came in the next moment, like two rays of light colliding together, tearing each other apart at the instant of contact!

Destruction, shattering, disintegration, blood filling the sky—